Pope blasts block on Open Arms ship

(ANSA) - Rome, March 27 - Pope Francis has reportedly criticised the fact that the Open Arms NGO-run migrant-rescue ship has been blocked in the port of Barcelona by the authorities. "Keeping the ship stationary is an injustice," Francis told Spanish journalist Jordi Evole in a meeting in Rome on Friday when asked if he knew the Open Arms was held up in the port of Barcelona, Avvenire.it reported.
    "Why do they do it? To let them drown?".
    The Open Arms was involved in one of a series of lengthy standoffs that took place last year after Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini closed Italy's ports to NGO-run search-and-rescue ships.